Public perception of escorting?
- Thread starter Questor
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Back to the original subject, I think the public perception of an escort is higher than for an investment banker or a Revenue Canada tax auditor. I was at a party once and we were exchanging business cards and one of the guys was a Revenue Canada auditor. The party went really quiet after that.
I guess how the general populace views escorts and MPA's is summed up two fold.
When was the last time you heard a gal, when asked her profession, answered "I'm an escort".
Why do the majority of escorts hide their identity. ie. faces in photos.
Answer; it is still frowned upon. Rightly or wrongly.
When was the last time you heard a gal, when asked her profession, answered "I'm an escort".
Why do the majority of escorts hide their identity. ie. faces in photos.
Answer; it is still frowned upon. Rightly or wrongly.
I never blamed sex work for the lack of alternatives for women, nor suggested it was the source of women's oppression and exploitation.Questor said:
I did however call bullshit on the idea that sex work is the "embodiement of women's empowerment" as it was suggested.
Didn't NOW go through a whole freedom of the press fight about 10 years back for that very reason? The charges including solicitation in public and living off the avails. Didn't they win their case? They must have. The ads got way more explicit than they were before.
Your new girlfriend sounds a little judgmental.
Your new girlfriend sounds a little judgmental.
This is all well and good...
...if this was established as the protocol upfront, and all involved knew this could / would very likely be the case. I am a BIG believer in honesty in relationships.
But...if that isn't the case, then I'd say this is selfish and self indulgent behavior...the sort of thing that sounds smart when you are young, until you've lived long enough to see the damage it could do to someone who didn't ask for it.
Suffice to say, you are neither a man, nor like most women...
Understand, I am not saying you are wrong with this premise:
"i am saying that a little fun every now and then should be ok. Live and let live."
I personally have always (well, mostly always) thought monogamy was grossly overrated...and personally...where I am in life now...have no use for it. I have no agreement to nor expectation of monogamy with the persons I sleep with regularly now, nor do I have any expectation of it from the person I am currently pursuing (or am I allowing myself to be pursued?? I do like a woman who goes after what she wants...), especially given all the current "knowns" regarding both parties.
What I AM saying is that sitting your SO down and announcing "I plan on fucking around - I thought you should know" reads and sounds a lot better in the theoretical than it would ever play out IRL with someone who up until that point thought they were in a monogamous relationship with you....
Angela@Mirage said:
...if this was established as the protocol upfront, and all involved knew this could / would very likely be the case. I am a BIG believer in honesty in relationships.
But...if that isn't the case, then I'd say this is selfish and self indulgent behavior...the sort of thing that sounds smart when you are young, until you've lived long enough to see the damage it could do to someone who didn't ask for it.
Suffice to say, you are neither a man, nor like most women...
Understand, I am not saying you are wrong with this premise:
"i am saying that a little fun every now and then should be ok. Live and let live."
I personally have always (well, mostly always) thought monogamy was grossly overrated...and personally...where I am in life now...have no use for it. I have no agreement to nor expectation of monogamy with the persons I sleep with regularly now, nor do I have any expectation of it from the person I am currently pursuing (or am I allowing myself to be pursued?? I do like a woman who goes after what she wants...), especially given all the current "knowns" regarding both parties.
What I AM saying is that sitting your SO down and announcing "I plan on fucking around - I thought you should know" reads and sounds a lot better in the theoretical than it would ever play out IRL with someone who up until that point thought they were in a monogamous relationship with you....
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Enjoying your job and getting something out of it does not equal "empowerment".drlove said:
Is there anyone suggesting that nursing or teaching is the "embodiement of women's empowerment"? Why not? Those are also two fields of work traditionally dominated by women, and like sex work, two fields of work where women care and cater to other people's needs. But even if nursing and teaching are generally considered more 'noble' professions, nobody is suggesting that nurses or teachers are being "empowered" through their work or that those careers are the "embodiement of women's empowerment". Maybe if they were doing it naked...
Put another way: why are you so adamant in believing that sex work is such a great "empowering" occupation for women? Do you feel the need to believe the same about other women/people who you are paying to cater to your needs?
And while I wouldn't want to burst anyone's bubble, lets just say that your conversations with women in this industry when you are hiring their service may not be the most accurate and objective sources of information.
Wow, you are deep. I find intelligent women extremely sexy. (I qualify for low Mensa myself.)genintoronto said:
In my storied non-sex professional work career, I found the most powerful women (and they are almost always women) are the "Executive Assistants" (we don't call them secretaries anymore) for they are the gatekeeper to the "Big Guy". They get a bundle of roses (and constant flattery) from me at least once a year.
Uhhh... I think I'll pass. Thanks anyway.genintoronto said:So? Just fake it. Even the best one amongst us sometime do
Hmmmm.... naked!genintoronto said:
Seriously though, good points. I happen to agree with what you've said, and my answer to your questions is: I don't know. However, this topic would make for a great discussion / debate in academia.Well, we're not talking about "Oh, your cock is so big!" et.al., but rather honest conversations (as far as I can tell) about their reasons behind working in the industry. Quite a few consider themselves modern day women, meaning that they don't look to a man to define themselves, or to depend on. Escorting is one way to achieve that independence. What makes it empowering to women from their perspective (again, based on what they themselves have told me) is that they object to the puritanical/victorian notions that sex is something dirty, to be ashamed of etc. - a view which is still prevalent in institutions such as the church and state. Instead of feeling oppressed, they are not only openly embracing and taking ownership of their sexuality/their bodies, but are doing so within an economic context. This gives women control. THEY decide what to charge, THEY decide when to work etc.. As one lady puts it, she enjoys making men pay for it, and why shouldn't they pay? It's better than giving it away for free.
In effect, she now has power over the men who come to see her by being in control over how she chooses to use her sexuality. Ultimately, it appears to come down to the freedom of expression and more importantly freedom of choice and the refusal to be repressed by patriarchy/society as a whole. You may or may not agree with what I've said, but again this is just my attempt at verbalizing some of the views that I've heard expressed by women in the industry - that's all.
Questor said:
I'd tell her the truth that it's perfectly legal to advertise in those magazines and I don't see anything wrong with it. If she doesn't like them she doesn't have to look at them.
That would probably be the end of it. but frankly if she's that uptight about the subject it probably wouldn't have lasted anyway.
Alot of women hate sps and they hate the guys who go to them even more. Like another poster said the sps take away the only power and leverage these women have over men. Not only do they attack the industry they pigeonhole the people who are in it. I always hear the same thing "these women are victims they are abused they are all drug addicts" they all carry STDs guys who pay for it are pathetic" "they hate women" and so fourth.
I guess you can't really blame them, when a consumer decides to change markets of course the monopolist is going to be furious and spew all sorts of venom.
I am going to avoid women like this even if it means being single forever. Being with a good decent woman is better then being single, but being with any average woman seems to be worse then being single.
I said basically the same thing earlier and another Terbie accused me of being intolerent of intolerent people.D-Fens said:
